Conclusion

This is what Sir George was hoping to achieve when he created his pool of research posts within the Meteorological Office. His system failed due to outside pressures on the Office for a rapid expansion in the provision of services, pressures which he could not withstand. It is to be hoped that future governments continue to recognise the value of BMRC and do not bring to premature end an organisation which has trodden such a difficult path towards national and international recognition.

And it could so easily happen. The Bureau's heyday occurred during the 1960s when it was in a department under the control of a Country Party minister and a sympathetic Departmental Secretary, Dick Kingsland. Since then, the only minister to display a similar commitment was the Honourable Barry Jones and that was only due to his personal interest in the greenhouse effect and a belief that the Bureau was one of the few organisations with the capacity to research the topic (Jones in a personal communication).

If concern for the environment fades in the face of rising unemployment and declining economic growth then the Bureau will, once more, be confronted by a level of support similar to that which it received during its first three decades and, most recently, during the period 1975–87. This will again, place severe pressure on its ability to service the requirements of an expanding population and simultaneously maintain an active scientific research program, possibly forcing it to rethink its support for BMRC.

Bureau of Meteorology